Upgrading a Rose
by EviIPaladin
Summary: After their triumphant victory over Roman and his Paladin, Ruby ponders how to best use the parts. Shortfic.


**A/N:** Hey so I realized I have way too many short one-shots I wrote and put up on my (since deleted) Tumblr so I figure I might as well put them up here. They aren't great but I figure maybe one or two people will get some enjoyment out of them, so I'll be throwing up one a day for a while.

This one was a birthday gift to the incredibly talented Kuribayashi, who loves some good ol' Mechanical Rose. Not that I can blame them, as the ship is utterly adorable.

* * *

As the four girls watched the airship carrying their two foes away, the white-haired girl was the first to speak up. "I guess you could say that she made our plans fall apart…"

The reactions were varied. Blake moved to just up and leave. Yang complained about how the joke, while appreciated from the ice princess, was still subpar. Ruby, against her better judgment, laughed at the painful pun. Someone had to support the needy girl. But the leader was already thinking about something else, as her gaze wandered to the remnants of the enormous robot.

"Ruby?"

The silver-eyed girl, spun around to see all three of her teammates looking at her. "What?"

"You were kinda just staring at those robot parts," pointed out Yang.

"Drooling as well," added Weiss, snickering a little at her younger partner.

"What?! N-No way!" Ruby quickly spun away from her teammates in a flash of roses then turned back. "See? No drool! Besides, I was thinking about bringing the parts back so we can upgrade our weapons."

"I don't think that's the best idea," replied Blake, pointing to the terrorist logo on the detached mecha arm. "The White Fang stole this, which would mean we'd be using stolen property."

"Yeah, but if we used it to fight the White Fang, it'd be like we stole it back, right?"

"That's playing a little fast and loose with the law there, little sister," said Yang with a smile.

"Gee, I wonder where she got that from," snarked Weiss, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess I just rub off on people, puncess." The blonde turned back to Ruby. "But you are the team leader, so this is your choice. Providing Blake isn't too against it."

The Faunus girl sighed. "We do need every advantage we can get if we are going to beat the White Fang…"

Ruby grinned. "Then it's settled! Let's pack it up and go!"

"I never thought I'd see my sister drool over a man's junk."

"That was crude, even for you, Xiao Long."

And while the rest of the team continued their playful banter, Ruby's smile dropped. She didn't like lying to her teammates but she had a promise to keep. As she hefted a large gun arm over her shoulder, she wondered how the red head was doing.

* * *

Wearing a backpack reminded Ruby of her early days at Signal. To think of all that had changed and all the new people she had met since then. And that first night at Beacon, when she was missing her friends the most. It seemed so long a—

"Greetings, Ruby!"

Ruby yelped, as she noticed her bright eyed friend standing before her. "Penny… You have to… stop scaring me… like that…"

The bright green eyes widened with concern. "Oh goodness no! I did not mean to alarm you with my appearance! Is something wrong with my face?" The synthetic girl began rubbing her face, seeking to find something protruding from her skin.

"No, no, nothing like that. I mean, just popping up out of nowhere is kind of startling."

"Oh…" The girl dropped her hands and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"No, no! It's okay!" Ruby grabbed Penny's hand and smiled at her. "Everyone has quirks. But I was actually looking for you."

"Oh?"

"Was your dad mad at you?"

Penny smiled and shook her head. "Not at all! He's very nice!" She paused and rested a finger on her chin. "Although, he did tell me that I have to be home earlier today and not to play with traffic! It was very good advice!"

Ruby chuckled. "Yeah, especially if you don't want anyone to know that you're a ro—" Ruby stopped and clasped a hand over her own mouth. "—se. A rose. That's what I was going to say."

"A rose? What do you mean?"

Ruby scratched the back of her neck. At least the girl hadn't figured out what she had almost said. "Well, like… A rose. The flower. It has thorns. And everyone knows the rose has thorns so they are kind of afraid of it poking them."

"But roses are simply splendid! Even if they hurt to hold, they are still beautiful. And besides," Penny lifted up her hands and firmly tapped an open palm, causing a light metallic noise. "Thorns can't hurt me."

Ruby felt her face get a little flushed. Was Penny… flirting with her? The Huntress shook her head. "No, Penny. You are the rose. You are pretty but dangerous to those who don't know how to handle you."

The robot girl took a step closer and took one of Ruby's hands in her two. "Are you afraid of me poking you?"

There was nothing little about the flush now. Slinging the backpack off and into her spare arm, she thrust it at Penny. "IgotyousomeupgradestomakeyoustrongandprettybutyouarealreadyreallyprettyandIdon'tknowwhattosaysobye."

In a flash of red, Ruby was gone, leaving a befuddled Penny in her wake. The robot girl sighed, grabbing a floating petal. She'd have to slow down the playback to understand what Ruby said but she was disappointed. That monkey boy had told her that this would certainly woo Ruby but it only made her run away. She'd have to talk him again and check to make sure he wasn't hiccupping when he was talking.

Penny slowly brought up the petal to her nose and smelled it, its soft fragrance bringing a smile to her face. As she went to go home, she hadn't even realized she was skipping. She loved her rose, thorns and all.


End file.
